The new Heroes Park in Murrieta has gone to the dogs -- and the dogs and their owners are very happy about it.

Murrieta's newest park held its Grand Opening on Saturday, with dozens of dog owners coming out to introduce their canine pets to the 14-acre dog park -- one of the largest in the area. The park, located in the Spencer's Crossing development on Briggs Road north of Leon Road, was built by developer Brookfield Residential and is maintained by Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District.

Heroes Park has four sections: A 2.3-acre large dog enclosure, 1-acre small dog enclosure, and two adjacent enclosures for all dogs, including many of a dog's best friend -- trees.

The are multiple gate access points to the enclosures, shade structures, picnic areas, restrooms and obstacles for the dogs to play on. Saturday's Grand Opening included a ribbon cutting and remarks by Valley-Wide General Manager Dean Wetter, County Supervisor Chuck Washington and Valley-Wide President Matt Duarte. The pep band from Dorothy McElhinney Middle School performed.

"Brookfield has been a great partner in taking kind of a unique parcel here and making it into something beautiful," Duarte said, referring to the unusually long and narrow strip of land that didn't necessarily lend itself to ballfields or other structures. "I want to thank the Valley-Wide staff for their hard work in getting this park ready. This is something our district we can be proud of.

"I love coming to dog parks because everybody is just happy to be there. They're outside, they're with their dogs. Things can't get much better than that."